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NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



The three closely allied species belonging to the northern portions of the 

 Northern Hemisphere may be distinguished by the characters given in the 

 following synopsis. 



Species and Baces. 



Common Characters. Adult. Bill, cere, and iris yellow. Tail, and some- 

 times the head and neck, white. Young. Bill and cere black ; iris dark brown. 

 Tail, head, and neck, blackish. 



A. Tail of fourteen feathers, cuneate, or graduated, for nearly half its length. 



Nostril with its lower end acute, bevelled gradually to the level of the cere ; 



upper outline of the cere very convex ; lore naked. 



1 Haliaehos pelagicus (Pall.). Falco lydagicus, Pallas, Zoog. Ros. As. I, 343, pi. ix. Aquila 

 p., KiTTL., BoiE. Haliaetus p., Sieb., Gray, Cass. B. Cal. & Tex. I, pp. 31, 110, pi. vi (9) ; 



Haliaitus pelagicus. 



Ib. Birds N. Am. 1858, 42. Thalassoaetus, Kaup, Jard. Falco leucopterus, Temm. Faico 

 imperator, Kittl. Rab. Northeastern Asia, Japan (Siebold) ; Kamschatka. 



